


Rough Quarantine

by gelexiagal123



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: COVID-19, M/M, Main Character Death, Mentions of the foxes, Neil Josten cries, Quarantine, sad quarantine, tagging is hard y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:40:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26418109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gelexiagal123/pseuds/gelexiagal123
Summary: Neil wasn’t worried. He was used to being apart from Andrew for weeks at a time, so 14 days was going to feel like nothing. They would do their separate quarantines and then drive to their shared home. It was no big deal. Neither of them gets sick very often, and the chances of either of them having this were low right now. Everything was going to be fine. Right?Or: A kind of sad quarantine fic featuring Andreil.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	Rough Quarantine

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I got tired of this being in my drafts so my tenses and grammar are all over the place, and I'm very sorry about that. I'll go back and do some editing later (hopefully). 
> 
> This is also totally not my normal writing style so like it was weird to write but I think it fits? Let me know what you think!

Neil wasn’t worried. He was used to being apart from Andrew for weeks at a time, so 14 days was going to feel like nothing. They would do their separate quarantines and then drive to their shared home. It was no big deal. Neither of them gets sick very often, and the chances of either of them having this were low right now. Everything was going to be fine. Right? 

The phone rang. 

“Two weeks,” he heard Andrew say as he picked it up. 

“It’s nothing. We’ve been apart for longer. I’ll be fine.” Neil felt himself cringe as he said the word, and he instantly knew what the reply would be.

“You know I don’t like that word.” 

“I’ll be okay. We’ll FaceTime like usual, and it will be okay,” Neil tried his best to believe his own words. 

“Two hundred thirty-six.” 

“I’ll call you when I get back to my apartment.” Neil hung up the phone with a smile on his face but an odd feeling in his chest. Not seeing Andrew for two weeks was almost normal, but not playing exy? He hadn’t gone without exy for more than a week before and those times weren’t by choice. He knew his coach wouldn’t let him on the court, so he hoped that Kevin had a secret stash of old games online that Neil could pirate for himself. If he couldn’t play, then he might as well watch and learn, right? 

Neil had been at the Court when he received the news about Coronavirus, but it didn’t take him long to pack up and get to his apartment. The drive was only 5 minutes, and soon he was back on the phone with Andrew while they both found dinner in their separate apartments. 

That’s one tradition that they had started when they were put on different teams. They would always cook and eat dinner together no matter where they were. Sometimes, because of games or late practices, it didn’t always quite work out how they wanted, but they would still find something. Sometimes they would call and Neil would watch Andrew devour a carton of ice cream, and other times Andrew would watch as Neil tried, yet again, to make no-bake cookies. (Neil didn’t know how he kept messing them up, but he’d be damned if he didn’t figure it out one day.) 

Tonight’s dinner had just been pasta and bread since Neil had had a long day of training and didn’t feel like spending hours on a dinner for one. It wasn’t a huge affair, but it was enough to bring comfort to both of them while they were so far apart. Andrew would never admit it, but Neil knew how much Andrew enjoyed the dinners. After all, each dinner meant another day closer to being on the same team. In fact, they had both gotten confirmation the week before that Neil was going to be traded to Andrew’s team for the next season. They just had to make it through the rest of this year and then they’d never be apart again. 

~~~~

It was strange. Quarantine that is. Neil had quickly run out of exy to watch, but he was constantly on a FaceTime call with Andrew. Things didn’t seem too different from the norm, but having no exy was definitely taking a lot out of Neil. Exy was something that made him feel alive. It made him feel unstoppable and happy. Now, though, he didn’t have that. He did have Andrew though. And even though they can’t see each other, FaceTimes would be enough until the 14 days were up and Neil could go home. 

~~~~

It’d been a full week since quarantine had started and Neil wasn’t feeling too great. He’d had a headache for a few days now and he woke up with a fever. He knew he should see a doctor, but he didn’t want to take them away from patients who actually need help. It would be just as easy for him to take some over-the-counter medicine and sleep it off, right? He’d be fine. He’s always fine. 

~~~~

Neil was not fine. He hadn’t told Andrew what was going on, but he knew that Andrew could tell something was wrong. Neil was seeing a doctor today though. He was hoping to just get tested so he could be told he was negative and he could finally go home to Andrew at the end of the week. So he dragged himself out of bed, down to the car, and into the hospital. 

There were doctors and nurses everywhere. There wasn’t a single free area to sit, so Neil just made his way to the check-in to explain what was going on. It took 3 hours for him to be taken somewhere and tested, and by the time it was over, he felt even more like death than when he arrived. 

They made him stay overnight. 

~~~~

Neil got his results two days later. 

Positive. 

~~~~ 

“I saw a doctor today.” 

“Why.” Andrew’s reply was more of a demand than a real question. 

“I got tested. It came back positive.” Neil heard his own voice crack as he said that last word. He knew what it meant. He knew what happened to those who tested positive. Now it was just a matter of time. 

“I’m coming to your apartment.” 

“No. I can’t let you get sick. I’ll be in the hospital anyway, and they won’t let you in.” 

“I can make them.” Neil knew that Andrew could make them. He could make anyone do anything with a single slip of a knife. But Neil needed Andrew safe. He needed him to survive this. 

“Andrew. I said no.” 

And then he hung up. 

~~~~

Neil hadn’t cried since his mother died, but tonight he cried until there was nothing left in him. He sobbed until his voice disappeared and a headache appeared worse than the one he’d been living with for the past week. He let it all out. Every emotion he knew. 

He cried in anger for being the one to get sick. 

He cried in sorrow for the thought of leaving Andrew. 

He cried in happiness for all the memories his new family gave him. 

He cried for himself, and he cried for those just like him. 

~~~~

Andrew didn’t call him again until the next night. Neil’s voice was barely there due to the night before, but he didn’t let himself start up again when he answered the phone. 

“Are you telling the others or do I need to?” Andrew was quick to the point. He knew how to deal with sickness and death. He knew what was coming and what arrangements would need to be made. 

“I can tell them.” His reply was quiet, but he knew that he needed to be the one to tell the others. It was his sickness, and so it was his burden to bear. “I’m sorry, Andrew.” 

“Don’t.” 

They didn’t talk for the rest of the night. Neil just stared at Andrew through the screen as Andrew smoked his way through an entire pack of cigarettes. 

~~~~

Andrew was furious. He didn’t know why he let them be signed to different teams. He didn’t know why he hadn’t insisted on being together for the quarantine. Mostly he didn’t know why it was Neil and not himself. But it always had to be Neil. It would always be Neil. 

~~~~ 

Today was supposed to be the day he went home. The day he went to Andrew. But he was spending it in a hospital instead, surrounded by others just like him. He was surrounded by people who had family and lovers. He was surrounded by people who had nobody, too. Everyone had the same look in their eyes though. Despair. 

Everyone there, from the patients to the nurses and doctors, knew what their odds were. They knew that there was a good chance they weren’t walking out of this hospital. They knew they might never see their family and loved ones again. And so they all looked exactly the same. They all wore their emotions clear on their faces. From anger to sorrow to something Neil didn’t quite know how to identify. It was all there. 

And it was only a matter of time for all of them.

~~~~ 

Neil was getting worse. He knew Andrew could see it in his eyes when they would FaceTime. He knew that Andrew refused to comment on it. Neil could see it in Andrew’s eyes. The regret. The blame. The refusal to accept what was going on. 

Neil didn’t know how to help him this time, though. He knew the other Foxes were leaving Andrew alone. Neil had texted them all with his test results the day after he told Andrew he would. He had a never ending stream of texts from all of them. Each one of them saying how sorry they were and how it shouldn’t have been Neil. All of them saying that they knew he could fight it. He didn’t reply to them though. He only told them to not let Andrew do anything too drastic and then turned off all his notifications except for the ones for Andrew. 

“I’m not coming home. You know that, right?” 

Andrew didn’t reply. He just gave Neil another one of his looks before pulling out another cigarette. Neil didn’t know how much Andrew was smoking, but he did know it was more than a pack a day. 

“If you keep smoking this much, you’re going to get lung cancer.” 

Andrew just glared. 

~~~~

Neil could feel it. He could tell he was running out of time. It was the way the nurses looked at him. There was more pity than there was before. He could be gone before the next morning. 

He started sending texts. 

To Wymack: Thank you for giving me a home and a family when I never deserved it. 

To Abby: Thank you for always patching me up and doing your best not to look at me with pity and judgment. 

To Aaron: Take care of your brother. Be nice to Nicky. 

To Allison: Don’t disappear inside yourself. 

To Dan: You were a big sister to me. I hope you and Matt live a long and happy life together. 

To Matt: You were one of the first people I trusted. Take care of each other. 

To Kevin: I gave you my game. Don’t let them take yours away. 

To Nicky: You’ve always taken care of Aaron and Andrew. Even when they didn’t want you to. Let someone take care of you for a change. You deserve it. 

To Renee: Thank you. Take care of them all. 

To Bee: Don’t let Andrew slip away. 

To all of them: I love you. 

~~~~

Andrew didn’t get a text. He got a voicemail. 

“I’m sorry to have to do this over the phone. Neil Josten has passed away. We can make arrangements to have the body sent to your address. I’m sorry for your loss.” 

~~~~ 

Andrew didn’t cry. 

Andrew didn’t disappear. 

Andrew didn’t slip away. 

Andrew did take care of the others. He made himself step up in a way that he knew Neil would have wanted. He took care of the funeral, or at least the parts they were able to have. He made sure Nicky was okay. He got them all together. And they mourned. 

They mourned the loss of their teammate, their friend, their brother, their family. And they did it all together.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Comments and critiques are very welcome!


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